Reborn From A Phoenix's Ashes
by AegisX-TAIL
Summary: A bit of money lying on the ground brought about the death of Harry Potter. The same day someone else was brought to meet him as well. Voldemort's connection should've been severed, yet it lives. What does that mean? is the BoyWhoLived dead? OOTP rewrite
1. Chapter 1

_**Order of the Phoenix Redux**_

_**by: AegisX**_

_**Well, look at this now… a Harry Potter fic… I can't help but say that I was inspired after reading several very good HP fics out there… like Bungle in the Jungle by Jbern and the rewritten series by Regulus… This isn't really coherent cause its not.… And yes… I don't own Harry Potter, cause then I'd have a big chunk of cash coming in on July 13… **_

_**AGX **_

_**Chapter 1 - **_

He didn't think that finding a bit of money on the floor during his daily wanderings would lead to this. An innocent looking 5 pound note that lay by a dumpster had brought him to the convenience store and into this situation.

"Don't fucking move, kid. I swear I'll shoot you!" The armed gunman yelled at the tall, lanky black haired teen that stood watching him, having seen his hand slowly moving for his pocket. "Just gimme all the cash you got and you'll live," he yelled to the convenience store's cashier. The woman gave a sob as she dumped money into a brown paper bag.

Movement out of the corner of his eye made him turn. He caught sight of the kid brandishing a long wooden stick at him. He brought the gun up and fired several shots, watching as a crimson streak of light shot off the stick as the kid yelled "Stupefy!" while trying to move to the side.

The world was spinning, or at least in his eyes it was. He felt the cold floor and he felt the liquid that surrounded him where he lay. He remembered firing the stunner at the robber, trying to avoid the gunshots and then feeling the burn on his chest that signified that two bullets struck him. He fought off the looming darkness that tried to swallow him, his eyes slowly losing focus as the sounds of sirens and screaming echoed in his ears. He gave a hoarse chuckle, as he realized that he was dying before he closed his eyes for the last time.

The entire wizarding world stopped that night. It was a harsh blow that was struck, as they opened their evening newspapers. The picture and the headline that greeted their eyes was the cause. In every language that held a newspaper, there was the same photograph along with the same headline.

_**"The Boy Who Lived: DEAD!"**_

Below it, the picture of Harry was shown in his place of murder. Gunshots to his chests and blood all over the floor.

_**AGX**_

_**6 minutes earlier...**_

"Read this and memorize it, quickly." The tall, thin man with long silver hair and a long beard said. His blue eyed gaze sharp above the half moon spectacles that rested snugly on his crooked nose, which looked like it'd been broken once or twice. It was Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was holding a slip of paper out to the person next to him.

The cloaked and hooded person took the slip of paper, reading it before returning it to Dumbledore who proceeded to burn it to ashes.

"Now, think of what was there." Dumbledore instructed and a house seemed to appear into existence where there wasn't a thing before. Dumbledore stepped to the door, tapping it with his wand twice to unlock it, when there was a bright flash of fire next to him.

Both his companion and he turned to catch sight of the phoenix that appeared in front of the house.

It flew over to Dumbledore, who paled when he caught sight of what the phoenix held in its claw. "Get inside, and close the door. Stay there while I return." With a sharp crack, he was gone and the hooded person entered the house. The door shut itself with a loud slam, the locks clicking as they engaged themselves once more and the hallway was dark.

He took a couple steps forward when his right foot connected with something, knocking it down with a loud crash. A pair of moth eaten black curtains a bit down the hall flew open and the screech of the portrait behind it echoed throughout the house.

Several people poured out of another doorway, into the hall. A tall, gaunt and shaggy haired man immediately grabbed the curtains on the painting yelling "Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" With another's help, he managed to yank the curtains closed and the painting fell silent once more.

"Who's that?" a tall, thin red head with long hair in a ponytail asked. That question alone caught the other's attention and they all pulled out their wands. "I thought Dumbledore had a fidelius on the house, Sirius?"

"Don't make any suspicious movements," the shabby wizard with graying hair stepped forward along with the red head and the gaunt one.

"I was brought here by Dumbledore." That simple sentence seemed to relax the others only a bit less. "He told me the secret…"

"So, where is Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, arching an eyebrow at the still hooded figure.

"His phoenix arrived with some kind of message and it seemed urgent." The low, quiet voice the stranger spoke in seemed to echo slightly at moments.

"Come this way." Sirius motioned for him to go into the kitchen, watching as Bill walked in ahead of them, to keep him covered.

Inside the kitchen, there was a woman with bright bubblegum pink hair in spikes sitting at the table. "Wotcher, Bill. Who's that?"

"Uncover yourself." Sirius ordered as he and Lupin entered the kitchen behind the stranger.

"You want me to take off my clothes in front of her?" He nodded towards where Tonks sat, her face now sporting a blush at what was said.

"Not your clothes, just the cloak and the hood." Bill snapped impatiently, waving his wand in a manner that implied for him to hurry up.

The hood came off first, revealing wavy grey hair, tanned skin and strangely colored eyes of a male. He took off the cloak, wearing black jeans, a green t-shirt and dragon hide boots. He was tall, with a slim but muscled build at a height of 5'9, with looks that would garner him as handsome even if never gorgeous.

"Blimey, he has some weird eyes." Tonks was the first to say something, standing up and walking over to look him in the eyes. His eyes were a swirl of grey, green, and orange. "How'd you get them?"

"My name's Aaron Grimm. And Dumbledore brought me here…" he never got to finish what he was saying when there was a flash of phoenix fire. When it cleared, Dumbledore stood there white faced with a body in his arms. Everyone stood still when they recognized whose body Dumbledore held.

_**Several Days later…**_

People had been coming and going since the world found out about Harry Potter's death. People were going into shock and the ministry of magic was hard pressed to keep everything running as normal as possible. Aaron Grimm was currently bored out of his mind.

After joining Sirius Black, the owner of the house, in getting drunk stupid for several days, he felt like crap. He was currently sitting on the stairs, smoking a cigarette when someone rung the doorbell. He stood up, pushing back his now deep purple hair out of his face, and walked over to the door.

With a tap of his wand, the locks slid open and he opened the door. "Welcome to hell, will you be having a prolonged stay here?" He got a gasp as a response as he was eyed by a family of red headed people.

"Molly, do come in." Dumbledore called out as he strode forward and Aaron walked away from the door. He went back to sitting on the stairs and smoking while he watched the red heads all walk inside. He caught Molly, as Dumbledore called her, looking at him with a frown as she led her children to the stairs.

"Put that disgusting thing out, young man. You're much too young to be smoking." Molly's words reached his ears and Aaron turned towards her, arching an eyebrow before he walked away. "Albus, who was that rude child?"

A day later, Albus Dumbledore stood in the kitchen surrounded by the people the made up the Order of the Phoenix. "Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks both will be our escort when we go retrieve Harry's personal objects from his relatives. Joining us will be Mr. Grimm." He motioned towards Aaron, who leaned against a kitchen counter watching them while he smoked his cigarette.

The Order took the orders in stride and once 6pm hit, they were ready for their mission. "We'll be apparating there; I trust that you remember the coordinates I've given you?" Dumbledore's question was met with a nod and with a soft pop, they were gone.

The Dursleys were in the middle of eating dinner when the doorbell rang. Dudley got up to get the door, grumbling about it under his breath. When he opened the door, he saw some unknown guy a little taller than him with bright purple hair. "What do you want?"

"I'm here for your cousin's stuff." Was the reply he got and his eyes widened.

"You're one of them, aren't you? One of those Freaks…" he didn't get to finish as a fist connected with his mouth sending him tumbling back into his house. Vernon hearing his son talking and the sounds of him falling, rushed to the living room to find Dudley on the floor with a busted lip.

"WHAT THE DEVIL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!!!?" Vernon Dursley's voice reached the rest of the Order as they appeared. Vernon took a step forward to grab Aaron only to be halted by the sight of three wands aimed at him.

"We here to retrieve Harry's personal belongings and to inform you that he will not be returning to your home any longer." Dumbledore addressed them as both Tonks and Aaron entered the house, shoving past Vernon. Aaron flicked the remains of his cigarette at Dudley, watching as he squealed and moved away quickly.

"I think this is it!" Tonks called down and he climbed upstairs to follow her. He entered the room to find books strewn about along with clothes and his other items. "Might as well pack up." With a flick of her wand, everything that belonged to Harry that was strewn about the room flew into the trunk where it fit itself messily.

"Wait… he's got something under here," Aaron pried up a floorboard, reaching in and pulling out a pile of letters and pieces of parchment. He tossed them into the trunk and Tonks levitated it out of the room and down the stairs. They walked past the dining room where Vernon and Petunia both sat fearfully. Aaron paused to light another cigarette before he followed after Tonks.

Before he left the house though, he punched Dudley once more. After hearing the satisfying crunch that signified a broken nose, he walked out to where Dumbledore, Tonks and Kingsley waited for him. The wounded hippo bellow that Vernon unleashed was the last thing they heard as they apparated away from Number 4 Private Drive.

"Nice right you got there," Tonks commented when they entered Grimmauld Place, leaving Dumbledore to take Harry's belongings upstairs. "Why'd you punch him?"

"I'm an empath and I felt his hatred for Harry." Aaron responded as he took a long drag of the cigarette. "I felt Harry's hatred of them permeating from the room and so, I felt like punching that walking sack of crap." Tonks was surprised since this was the longest he'd ever talked to her.

And so, time passed at Grimmauld Place and Aaron was learning to deal with the people there in his own ways, while the people were trying to cope with the death of the Boy Who Lived. It had been 2 weeks since the Weasleys, as he learned who they were, arrived along with a bushy haired girl that went by the name of Hermione arrived as well. She was one that had taken the death of Harry Potter the worst. For some reason, Ron Weasley didn't seem that bothered that Harry was dead.

Aaron was walking into the kitchen with a lit cigarette in his mouth when he saw Hermione storm past him with tears in her eyes. He'd gotten to talking to her and she was a nice person, a bit bossy but then again, what female wasn't bossy in his opinion. He shook his head at the sight and he entered the kitchen.

He gave a nod to greet Sirius along with the twins Fred and George, who he got along with well enough. He ignored the frown on Molly Weasley's face when she saw the cigarette in his mouth. "How many times have I told you not to smoke those things in here?"

"It doesn't matter what you've told me," Aaron replied as he grabbed a butterbeer off the kitchen table. Molly's puffy eyes turned into a glare as she placed her hands on her hips.

"It does matter and you'll follow the rules while you're in my house."

Aaron rolled his eyes, turning to Sirius. "Hey, you mind if I smoke here?" Sirius gave him a shrug as he took a drink of his firewhiskey, ignoring the indignant squawk that Molly let out. "He owns the place and doesn't mind, so leave me alone." Molly opened her mouth to argue and he cut her off "Harry Potter dies and you bullshit me about my smoking?"

Molly burst into tears at that as she left the kitchen with her husband trailing after her. "Oi, why the hell'd you go and do that?" Ron snarled at him. The twins tried shutting him up, but Ron ignored them as he stood up. "My best mate died, my mum spends her time crying and you decide to remind her of it?"

"Shut up, you're the last one that should be even talking to me." Aaron took a seat next to Sirius, grabbing the firewhiskey bottle and poured himself a shot. "You've been using the fact that your best mate died to try and get into Ms. Granger's pants." Everyone in the table turned to look at Ron, who went red as he tried to deny it. "And you've made her cry more than enough times since you've gotten here."

Sirius was glaring at Ron along with Ginny and the twins. Aaron downed the shot and stood up, leaving the room and heading to the library.

He walked inside, finding Hermione sitting in one of the armchairs, crying. "I'd ask if you're alright, but I know you're not." He said as he grabbed a random book out of a shelf and sat in another armchair across from her. "You feel like talking? I didn't get to meet him, but talking about things helps."

After idly paging through the book, _**Dark Alchemy**_, for several minutes, he looked up. "What was that?" he'd heard her mumbling something, but he couldn't quite make out what it was.

"I asked why? Why is he dead?" Hermione made an effort to stop her tears, wiping away the ones that were visible.

"I don't know why he's dead. I know he was a good person to risk his life and to risk trouble with the government in doing what he did." Aaron responded as he continued glancing through his book.

"He always risked himself for others, to help others." Hermione's voice was slightly hoarse. "He hated the pressure of being the Boy Who Lived, but what could he do?"

"A moment of silence for Harry Potter, not the boy who lived…" Aaron stated and they both fell silent for more than a moment. He grabbed another book from the shelf and slipped the other back. He grabbed his wand and with a flick he locked the door and set up a silencing charm. "I'll tell you a secret, you probably don't care, but I'll tell you anyway."

Hermione had noticed when the doors locked and she'd looked at Aaron in surprise. "What secret?" even after what'd happened, her curiosity was still peaked.

"I was brought here because of a connection, a strange one." Aaron stood up and started pacing. "I'm empathic, so if you need help coping with this, I'll do my best to help you."

"Empathy? You mean like-"

"Yeah… just don't tell anyone, please."

After that talk, Aaron spent more time in the library reading and less time being around an emotionally unstable Molly Weasley. Hermione joined him frequently and they sat there reading in silence until Ron came around, because Ron always did. Ron then spent his time trying to get closer to Hermione in a subdued sort of way after getting punched by Aaron for making her cry once more.

The Order was hard at work trying to undermine Voldemort's recruitment efforts among the Werewolves, Giants and Vampire clans. Soon enough, it was time to go back to school for Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Fred and George.

_**Platform 9 ¾ …**_

The Order had escorted everyone onto the platform on orders from Dumbledore. Aaron followed Hermione and the Weasleys into the train, walking through carriage after carriage till he found himself on the last one.

He slipped inside a mostly empty compartment and took a seat. The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist length, dirty-blond hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look.

"Yo…" he greeted her as he pulled out a small paperback book out of his pocket.

"_You're_ Harry Potter…" She said, her eyes unblinking as she stared at him.

Aaron chuckled at that, "I'm Aaron Grimm. Who are you?" he countered


	2. Chapter 2

_**Back again with another chapter. I borrowed some lines from the Order of the Phoenix book, so those parts don't belong to me. I don't own Harry Potter, the real owner is J.K. Rowling, and thus I only own my own character. That's it. Now, on with the show…**_

**Chapter 2 - **

"Luna Lovegood." She answered briefly before returning back to her upside down magazine. After several minutes of silence, Ginny Weasley entered the compartment alongside of a tall round faced boy, who seemed to be apprehensive about entering inside. "You mind if we sit here, Luna?" She received a nod for a response and she pulled Neville inside to sit with them.

"You're Harry Potter..." Luna once again said those words with conviction as Aaron shook his head. Hearing the slight gasp which turned into a sob, she turned her attention towards Ginny and Neville. "And I don't know who you are..." She cocked her head to the side, her pale eyes making Neville shift around uncomfortably.

"Neville Longbottom - Luna Lovegood," Ginny introduced them as she wiped a stray tear from her eye. "Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw." was the introduction given.

"Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure," said Luna in a singsong voice. She then raised her magazine high enough to hide her face and fell silent. Neville looked at Ginny with his eyebrows raised, forcing her to suppress a giggle.

"Neville, this is Aaron Grimm." She introduced Aaron to Neville, who got a nod from Aaron before he stretched himself out in the other seat, his gaze locked on the book in his hands.

The train rattled on, speeding them out into open country. It was an odd, unsettled sort of day; one moment the carriage was full of sunlight and the next they were passing beneath ominously gray clouds. The silence was almost tangible in the compartment, only being broken by the sound of pages turning occasionally.

"Guess what I got for my birthday?" said Neville as he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small grey cactus in a pot, which was covered in boils.

"What's that?" Ginny asked as she eyed the plant with curiosity. Aaron gave it a look before returning to his book.

"Mimbulus mimbletonia," Neville answered proudly. Ginny eyed the plant, watching as it pulsated slightly giving it the sinister look of a diseased internal organ.

"It's really, really rare,' said Neville, beaming. I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even. I can't wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My Great Uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. I'm going to see if I can breed from it."

"What's it do?" Ginny asked.

"Loads of stuff!" said Neville proudly. "It's got an amazing defensive mechanism. Here, hold Trevor for me ..." He dumped the toad into Ginny's lap and took a quill from his schoolbag.

Luna Lovegood's popping eyes appeared over the top of her upside-down magazine again, to watch what Neville was doing. Neville held the Mimbulus mimbletonia up to his eyes, his tongue between his teeth, chose his spot, and gave the plant a sharp prod with the tip of his quill.

Liquid squirted from every boil on the plant; thick, stinking, dark green jets of it. They hit the ceiling, the windows, and spattered Luna Lovegood's magazine; Aaron, who had his face buried behind his book, was sporting a layer of the slime in his hair. But Ginny, whose hands had been busy preventing Trevor's escape, received a faceful of it.

It smelled like rancid manure.

Aaron reached into his sweater pocket, pulling out an ash wand and giving it a flick as he cleaned up the mess before going back to his book.

"S-sorry," Neville gasped. "I haven't tried that before... didn't realize it would be quite so... don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous," he added nervously, avoiding the look that Ginny gave him.

Again the compartment dropped into silence. Ron and Hermione did not turn up for nearly an hour, by which time the food trolley had already gone by. Ginny and Neville had finished their pumpkin pasties and were busy swapping Chocolate Frog Cards when the compartment door slid open and they walked in, accompanied by Crookshanks and a shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage. Aaron sat up, staying close to the door as he made room for both Hermione and Ron.

"I'm starving," Ron said and a sad expression flicked across his face. He looked up when a chocolate frog hit him in the head, "Hey!" Ginny handed him the candy from where it landed as Ron eyed Aaron.

Hermione spent some time telling them about the prefects with Ron scowling as he informed them who the Slytherin prefects were. His comment about someone named Goyle writing lines about not looking like a baboon's backside made Luna burst into laughter.

He picked up the magazine Luna had dropped, scanning through it. After a slightly interesting story about Sirius Black being the lead singer of some band, he realized that Ron had asked him a question. "What?"

"I asked if there's anything good in there," Ron repeated.

"Of course not," said Hermione scathingly, before Aaron could answer. "The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that."

"Excuse me," said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. "My father's the editor."

"I - oh,' said Hermione, looking embarrassed. "Well... it's got some interesting... I mean, it's quite ..."

"You know that saying where if you can't say anything nice or polite, you shouldn't say anything at all? I believe this is one of those moments," Aaron said neutrally as he handed paper back to its owner. Hermione's face reddened as she looked away.

The compartment door slid open once more and everyone inside it looked around. "Who are you?" Aaron asked with a bored voice and facial expression, eyeing the smirking Malfoy and his cronies.

"Already found a replacement for Potter, did you? You work fast." Malfoy drawled, his smirk widening at the face that everyone made. He turned to Aaron, "I am Draco Malfoy and if I were you, I wouldn't be seen with them," drawled Malfoy, whose sleek blond hair and pointed chin were just like his fathers, gesturing towards everyone else.

"But you're not me and I'm glad for that," Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Have some manners or I'll have to give you a detention," Malfoy gave him a smug look. "You see, I have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

Aaron shrugged his shoulders, "But I, unlike you, can give you a concussion so you might want to leave me and them alone."

Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville laughed. Malfoy's lip curled.

"You'll soon see what associating yourself with this riffraff will get you," Malfoy hissed at him before turning away and leaving the compartment.

"That was terrific," Ron clapped a hand to Aaron's shoulder, congratulating him.

"Thanks," Once more Aaron sunk back into his book as everyone else got comfortable and started their own conversations. "We should change into our robes," Hermione commented after taking a glance through the window. Aaron eyed the robes for a bit, but slid them on at Hermione's insistence before pulling out a shiny chrome lighter out of his pocket. Neville watched Aaron as he eyed his hair with the lighter's help before it changed into a dark green color, growing until he pushed it back out of his face into long spikes that cascaded backwards and to his neck in length.

Everyone in the compartment was surprised except for Luna, "Your hair looks nice, but I think it would look nicer in dark blue," She said with a dreamy smile.

At last, the train began to slow down and they heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready to get off. As Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this, they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving Ginny and the others to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon.

Aaron grabbed his book from where it lay, sliding it into his pocket before heading out into the corridor. The sound of rain pounding down reached them as they stepped down onto the platform. Aaron looked around as other students hurried to get out of the rain, the call for the First Years reaching his ears as he allowed himself to be shunted forwards onto the rain-washed road outside of the station.

Here stood a hundred or so stagecoaches that were the method of transportation for everyone above first year. He walked towards one, examining the creatures that stood there between the carriage shafts. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. "Interesting, I'll have to find out what you are..." he said as he ran his hand across its back slowly before getting into a carriage with the others.

Once entering the castle, he heard someone call out. "Mr. Grimm, you'll have to be sorted with the new students, so if you'll please follow me," Professor McGonagall led him towards the line of first years, who were looking at him, curious as to why an older boy was in line with them. A loud cackle erupted from above them and a poltergeist appeared, flinging a blue balloon at the line which burst in a splash of black ink at the feet of a black haired girl. Aaron pulled out his wand and with a flick, a burst of blue light struck the cackling poltergeist, propelling it out of the room as it cursed loudly.

"I hate poltergeists," was his only reply to the look that Professor McGonagall gave him.

After a certain amount of time, McGonagall led the students through the door. He watched as one by one the students were called and they placed the hat onto their heads where it proceeded to call out the name of the house in question. Once all first years were done being sorted, Dumbledore stood up from his seat. "As you all have learned this summer, a student has left us and is now moving onto the next great adventure in the afterlife, but tonight another young mind will be joining us as a 5th year."

"Aaron Grimm." McGonagall's curt voice silenced the buzz of conversation that had arisen after Dumbledore's small speech. Aaron sauntered towards the stool, grabbing the hat and slipping it on after taking a seat. He clenched and unclenched his left fist as the swirling amount of emotions emanating from the tables pounded into him.

"Well, you're a unique one, aren't you? Bright mind, not lacking in courage, and you have an interesting ability." Aaron rolled his eyes as he listened to the hat's musings. "Your mind seems familiar; have you had anyone related to you in this school? No? Never mind then." Aaron waited for a bit longer. "Where to put you? You can't go into Slytherin; you'd more than likely end up being the whole house's enemy. You'd do well in Ravenclaw, and no doubt that you could join Gryffindor. Well, let's go with -"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Aaron replaced the hat back onto the seat before heading towards the Gryffindor table. He took a seat between Ron and Hermione until the food appeared on the table. Dumbledore was making a closing speech when he was interrupted by the most ridiculously frog looking woman Aaron had ever seen. After a long wait that seemed to bore the brains out of everyone in the room, they were dismissed and Ron along with Hermione went off to lead the first years towards the common room.

He followed Fred and George upwards, slowly memorizing the path they followed through hidden staircases and such until they stood in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. "_Mimbulus mimbletonia_," George motioned for Aaron to follow them before stepping inside after the portrait swung open. The Gryffindor common room looked welcoming in a warm way, a cozy circular tower room full of dilapidated squashy armchairs and rickety old tables. A fire was crackling merrily in the grate and a few people were warming their hands by it before going up to their dormitories; both Weasley twins went over to a notice board and started pinning a sign to it.

Inside the common room, he was assaulted by the swirling left over emotions and feelings of people long gone as well as currently living there. A familiar warmth spread through him as he recognized one person's feelings and a smile slowly appeared on his face. He shook himself as the gaggle of first years entered through the portrait hole, followed by some of the older students as well.

"I reckon you'll be bunking with us, right?" a very tall black teenager spoke to him. "My name's Dean Thomas, muggleborn. How about you?"

"Aaron Grimm, like they announced earlier. Part of an old family, but I doubt its pureblood." Aaron answered with a shrug.

"Just follow us," Neville said.

Aaron gave him a nod and followed him up to the dormitory; once again a certain set of feelings and emotions hit him. He looked around at the comfortable looking four poster beds, watching as Ron, Neville and some other person made themselves at home. He took the remaining bed, pulling out a shrunken trunk from his pocket and placing it down before returning it to normal as he listened to the conversation around him.

"Me mam didn't want me to come back." His still unknown roommate said, spending longer than normal to put up his poster.

"What was that Seamus?" Ron asked, half way through pulling on his pajamas.

"She didn't want me to come back to Hogwarts." Seamus turned away from his poster and pulled his own pajamas out of his trunk,

"Why?" the question was echoed by both Ron and Neville, who were looking at Seamus intently.

"Well," he said in a measured voice, "I suppose ... because of Harry."

With that said, the reasoning became clear to Aaron. Since the beginning of summer, a smear campaign had been launched against both Dumbledore and Harry Potter, which had not ended even with Harry's passing away. "She stupidly believes the shit that the government shovels to the masses," Aaron's statement froze everyone.

"Don't call my mother stupid," Seamus snarled at him.

"If she believes what's being written under the orders of the minister, then she clearly isn't very smart." Aaron's words further infuriated Seamus, who rushed at him with his fists swinging wildly. Aaron sighed as he drew his wand and with a flick, fiery sparks shot at Seamus forcing him to stop. "I suggest you don't do that," Aaron told him coolly, "I'm just stating the obvious."

Everyone else watched the confrontation between Seamus and Aaron. "You're mad if you believe that rubbish about You-Know-Who being back." Aaron rolled his eyes at that before turning his back on Seamus, removing his robes. "You do, don't you? You and Dumbledore are mad, that's why he's been sacked from the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards."

"If I'm mad, at least I can say Voldemort's name without fear." Every wizard in the room with the exception of Dean flinched at Aaron's words. Seamus glared at him as he pulled of his t-shirt, kicked off his boots and slipped into bed. The silence that settled was almost deafening as everyone else slowly slipped into their beds, not wishing to make the situation worst.

When Aaron woke up the next morning, he found that Seamus was already gone. With a shrug, he got dressed and went downstairs; his destination was the Great Hall and breakfast. He caught up to Hermione and Ron, who were currently talking about both the Seamus argument and an argument with someone named Lavender. "Yo." Aaron's greeting startled them.

"Good morning," "Morning," Hermione and Ron greeted him as they walked down a set of stairs. "I wanted to ask, how did you do that with your hair? Are you a metamorphmagus like Tonks? Or is it something else? Because I thought you were using a spell to change the color of your hair."

Ron rolled his eyes as Hermione rattled off several of her prior theories about Aaron.

"Slow down and breathe." Aaron raised a hand, interrupting Hermione's flow of words, giving her a half grin as she blushed. "I'll explain later, I need food first."

"Finally, someone who's priorities are straight." Ron grinned as they crossed the entrance hall, heading towards the door leading into the Great Hall. While both Hermione and Ron entered, Aaron's way was barred by none other than Draco Malfoy, along with Crabbe and Goyle.

"What do you want?"

"I'm here to apologize for yesterday and to introduce myself. As I said, I'm Draco Malfoy and the ones behind me are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle." He held out a hand to Aaron. "I've heard great things about your family and my father's spoken highly of them."

"I don't see how your father's done that considering that my family has refused to meet with him every single time. The Grimm family doesn't associate themselves with Death Eater slags." Aaron batted away the outstretched hand, about to push past him when both Crabbe and Goyle stepped up.

Malfoy had the nerve to look insulted at Aaron's words. "You and your family are fools then. You don't insult the Malfoy name without consequences." With a wave of his hand, both boys behind him lumbered forward only to stop when a slight "Hem, Hem," sounded behind them.

"Is there a problem here, students?" the high, fluttery, and girlish voice of Dolores Umbridge reached their ears.

"Not at all, right Draco?" Aaron arched an eyebrow at Malfoy, who stared at him stupidly before quickly agreeing with him.

"Well, then. Please move on, you're blocking the door." When they moved out of the way, Umbridge proceeded to waddle through the doorway and into the Great Hall. Aaron suppressed the urge to spit as she left, the disgusting tinge of emotions swirling around them.

"Stay the hell away from me, Malfoy." Aaron walked into the Great hall, leaving a stunned Draco staring at him as he left.

_**A/N: And that about does it for this chapter. Hope it's good. Read, Review and don't hesitate to inform me if its crap.**_


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